Western-Made Components Found in Downed Rare Russian S-70 “Okhotnik” Drone

An analysis of the Russian S-70 “Okhotnik” (Hunter) drone, which was downed near Kostyantynivka in Donetsk on October 5, 2024, has revealed that despite sanctions, Russia used components manufactured by Western companies in the drone construction, Ukrainian HUR reported, citing War&Sanctions portal on November 8.

According to information, published on the War&Sanctions portal, the S-70 drone includes microelectronics and other technology parts produced by firms such as Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, and Xilinx-AMD from the US, Infineon Technologies from Germany, and STMicroelectronics from Switzerland.

This discovery shows Russia’s continued access to Western-made components for its advanced military technology despite international sanctions.

Russia reportedly possesses four prototypes of the S-70 drone, each valued at approximately $15 million.

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War in Ukraine

Russia’s Newest and Rarest S-70 “Okhotnik” Drone Shot Down in Combat

Oct 07, 2024 14:02

The S-70, known to carry UMDB D-30 aerial bombs, has been used by Russian forces to target and damage civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, further underscoring the impact of these components in the ongoing war.

Previously, British intelligence described the downing of Russia’s S-70 “Hunter” drone as another expensive and embarrassing failure in Russia’s military technology development.

In addition, the Russian Orlan-10 and Orlan-30 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often used by the Russian army contain a variety of western-made components, that Russia is supplying from the US and other Western countries circumventing the sanctions.

Companies closely linked to the St Petersburg-based Special Technology Centre Limited Liability Company—a Russian military-affiliated manufacturer—had drastically increased imports of Western components for the Orlan since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, an investigation revealed.